Heat-contractible bobbin



Oct. 7, 1969 MnssLLnv lNouYE |:r1u.v 3,471,102

' HEAT-couTRAcTILE BoBIN Filed Aug. 3Q, 1967 v l l 2 sheets-sheet 1 b. l me; M

i i: l

f iii Z3: I7 zi Z L. "'.tj Z

E aai Z.

Oct. 7, 1969 Filed Aug. so, 1967 y M11-su. lNouYE ETAL HEAT-CONTRACTIBLE BOBBIN 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v United States Patent O 3,471,102 HEAT-CONTRACTIBLE BOBBIN Mitsuji Inouye, Nagoya-shi, and Yoshiharu Nagai, Kanazawa-shi, Japan, assignors to Nihon Senshoku Kabushiki Kaisha, Aichi-ken, Japan, a corporation of Japan, and Osaka Bobbin Kabushiki Kaisha, Osaka, Japan, a corporation of Japan Filed Aug. 30, 1967, Ser. No. 664,435 Claims priority, application Japan, Sept. 1, 1966, 41/ 57,962 Int. Cl. B65h 75/20 U.S. Cl. 242--118.11 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE A heat-contractible bobbin adapted for use in the steam treatment or liquid treatment of natural, chemical and synthetic fibre filaments or yarns, which bobbin is made of a thermoplastic sheet material having the thickness thereof reduced progressively from the central portion where it is largest towards both edges where it is smallest, and which is shaped into a cylindrical or conical cofiguration with both edge portions overlapping each ot er.

The present invention relates to a bobbin adapted for use in the steam treatment or liquid treatment, such as scouring, bleaching or dyeing, of filaments and yarns of natural, chemical and synthetic fibres.

In the steam treatment or liquid treatment of the fibres described above, conventional bobbins of different types have been used heretofore. However, neither of them has taken the shrinkage of a filament or yarn, wound thereon, into consideration. There have also been used contractible cheese holders which are made of wires and designed for -use in the dyeing of fibers but this is unsatisfactory because the yarn composing a cheese is subjected to an excessively large pressure at a line or a point at which said yarn is in contact with the wire element of the holder, so that no satisfactory treatment of the yarn can be obtained. There .have also been used a contractible bobbins of a sheet metal, but with this contractible bobbin, a difficulty is encountered in obtaining the contraction of the bobbin in proportion to that of the yarn in the respective steps of a dyeing or heat treatment process. Another drawback of these type of contractible bobbin is that, the adjoining edges of the sheet metal composing the contractible cylindrical body tend to be overlapped by each other and form a shoulder, making it impossible for the outer peripheral wall of the cylindrical body to be in a true circle, so that the use of these bobbins for the treatment of a fine filament or yarn frequently results in the filament or yarn to be damaged or nonuniform treatment.

The object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a bobbin which is adapted for use in the heat treatment or steam treatment, such as heat-setting, or in the liquid treatment at a lcertain range of temperature, such as scouring, bleaching, dyeing or post-treatment, of a filament-shaped or yarn-shaped natural fibre, chemical fibre or synthetic fibre, wound thereon, and which is contractible in its diameter per se under the compressive force of the fibre and heat, in proportion to the shrinking of the said libre during the treatment, whereby a tension developed in the filament or yarn as a result of the shrinkage of the same is mitigated, providing for uniform treatment ofthe filament or yarn with heat, steam or a liquid and thereby precluding irregularities in the result of treatment.

According to the present invention, there is provided a bobbin which is rendered heat contractible because of the thermoplasticity of a synthetic resin, e.g. polypropyl- 3,471,102 Patented Oct. 7, 1969 ene, and is shaped into a suitable configuration for contraction and which is formed with holes of unique shape for the passage of steam or a liquid therethrough to provide for satisfactory steam treatment or liquid treatment of a filament or yarn Wound thereon.

More specically, according to the present invention, the heat-contractible bobbin is made of a sheet material having flexibility, which is shaped into a cylindrical or conical configuration, with the opposite edge portions thereof overlapping each other, so that the circumferential length of said cylindrical or conical body may be variable in proportion to the degree of expansion or shrinkage of a yarn or filament wound thereon, during heat treatment or liquid treatment of the said thread or filament, varying the amount of overlapping of the edge portions. In addition, the thickness of the sheet material, of which the cylindrical or conical body is made, is caused to vary so as to enable the said body to maintain a true-circular cross sectional configuration as the circumferential length varies, and further throughholes of a unique configuration are formed in the peripheral wall of the body for the passage of a treating liquid or gas therethrough.

It is to be noted that, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a bobbin which is contractible in proportion to the degree of shrinkage of a filament or yarn wound thereon, by using the proper composition of the synthetic resin sheet material used for the formation of the bobbin as well as the configuration of the same. Namely, by the use of the bobbin of this invention, it is possible to smoothly and uniformly achieve various treatments of different filament or yarn, since the bobbin is capable of contracting per se in conformance to the shrinkability of the respective fibres. The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the accompanying drawing.

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross section of a cylindrical bobbin embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a transverse cross section of the cylindrical bobbin taken on the line II-II of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 to 5 inclusive are plan views, illustrating the cylindrical bobbin in various stages of contraction;

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of a conical bobbin embodying the present invention, with the right half portion shown in section;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the conical bobbin shown in FIG. 6; t

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary view of the bobbin, showlng the configuration of through-holes formed therein;

FIG. 9 is a cross section taken on the line A-A of FIG. 8; and t FIG. 10 is a cross section taken on the line B-B of FIG. 8.

Referring to the drawing and first to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a cylindrical bobbin yaccording Ito the present invention. In the figures, the reference numeral 1 denotes the body of the bobbin, 2 denotes the opposite edge portions of a sheet material constituting the bobbin, which edge portions are overlapping each other 3, denotes the steam or liquid lpassage through-holes perforated in the wall of the bobbin, and 4 designates a filament or yarn of bre Wound on the bobbin. FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show the cross sectional c-onfigurationsof the bobbin in various stages of contraction. As seen, the sheet material constituting the bobbin 1 has the thickness thereof being reduced progressively from the central portion 1', where it is largest towards both edges 2 and 2, the thickness being smallest at both edges. Because of such the structure, the cross sectional configuration of the outer peripheral wall is always maintained in a true-circular shape in any stage of contraction of the bobbin. FIG. 3 shows the cross sectional configuration of the bobbin before contraction, FIG. 4 shows the same in an intermediate stage of contraction and FIG. 5 shows the same in the final stage of contraction. The through-holes 3 formed in both edge portions 2 and 2 of the bobbin are elongated laterally, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, so that these holes may not be closed by the overlapping edge portions during contraction of the bobbin. The rest of the through-holes are all the same in configuration. The through-holes 3 each have a rectangular configuration and are formed over the entire area of the wall surface of the bobbin in regular arrangement, such that the upper and lower sides of the Iholes are respectively located in planes perpendicular to the axis of the bobbin. Each of the through-holes is formed in a manner such that the area of the opening thereof is reduced progressively from the outer wall surface towards the inner wall surface of the bobbin, so that the wall body between adjacent holes is in a trapezoidal shape in vertical cross section through the axis of the bobbin, the base of which trapezoidal shape is constituted by the inner wall of the bobbin.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show another embodiment of the present invention, in which the bobbin is shaped into a conical configuration. In these figures, the same reference nu-merals as in FIGS. l and 2 designate similar portions. As seen, each of the through-holes in this embodiment is shaped into a trapezoidal configuration, instead of a rectangular configuration as in the preceding embodiment.

Because of the structure described hereinabove, the bobbin according to the present invention is capable of subjecting a filament or yarn to a process ranging from the heat treatment and steam treatment to the liquid treatment including scouring, bleaching, dyeing and post-treatment, with the said filament or yarn Wound thereon. In addition, while with the conventional straight or taper bobbins, a filament or yarn Wound thereon is tightened to be extremely hard and thereby the resistance to a liquid or a gas, passing through the cheese of filament or yarn, becomes extremely large, which is due to the shrinkage caused during various treatments, with the result that the amount of steam or liquid passing through the cheese is reduced, making it impossible to obtain satisfactory and uniform treatment, or, with the conventional contractible holders of wires and bobbins of sheet metal, a filament or yarn thereon is locally subjected to an extremely large compression, the bobbins of the instant invention are entirely free from such difficulties, because the bobbin of this invention contract in proportion to the shrinking of the filament or yarn wound thereon, as a result, the overlapping portion of the bobbin increases automatically, with the consequent reduction in diameter of the bobbin. This is possible because, since the wall body between adjacent through-holes has a trapezoidal configuration in cross section through the axis of the bobbin, the contraction is greater on the inner wall surface than on the outer wall surface of the bobbin by virtue of the heatshrinking characteristic of the synthetic resin of which said bobbin is made. Furthermore, because of being made of a thermoplastic synthetic resin, the bobbin is readily contractible upon deformation under a heated condition and such contraction is further promoted by the compressive force produced by the shrinking filament or yarn and exerted on the exterior surface of the bobbin. Still further, since the bobbin is substantially not repulsive against the shrinking of the filament or yarn, there is no objectionable tension remaining in the filament or yarn, providing for satisfactory treatment of said filament or yarn with heat, steam or a liquid, and imposing no adverse affect on the subsequent processes. Thus, a satisfactory product can be obtained. It should also be noted that, because of thermoplasticity, the bobbin of the present invention, after contraction, can be returned to its original shape for reuse. As will be understood from the foregoing description, the present invention is of great practical advantage.

We claim:

1. A heat-contractible bobbin comprising:

an elongated, generally tubular element of thermoplastic material having a wall of generally circular transverse cross-sectional configuration, said wall presenting opposed, longitudinally extending edge portions defining a longitudinally extending split,

each of said edge portions being substantially wedge shaped in cross-section, said wall increasing in thickness in a direction away from said split,

said bobbin being adapted upon contraction to move said edge portions circumferentially in overlapping relationship while the outer periphery of the bobbin remains substantially circular.

2. A bobbin as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tubular element is generally cylindrical.

3. A bobbin as set forth in claim 1 wherein said tubular element is generally conical.

4. A bobbin as set forth in claim 1 wherein said element has a plurality of holes extending radially therethrough to facilitate passage of steam or a treating liquid, said holes increasing in area in a direction outwardly of the bobbin.

5. A bobbin as set forth in claim 4 wherein said holes are configured such that the segments of the element between adjacent holes are trapezoidal in cross-section.

6. A bobbin as set forth in claim 4 wherein at least a plurality of the holes are disposed in each edge portion, the holes of each plurality being elongated in a direction circumferentially of the bobbin whereby to preclude blocking of the holes during expansion and contraction of the bobbin.

7. A bobbin as set forth in claim 5 wherein at least a plurality of the holes are disposed in each edge portion, the holes of each plurality being elongated in a direction circumferentially of the bobbin whereby to preclude blocking of the holes during expansion and contraction of the bobbin.

8. A bobbin as set forth in claim 1 wherein said wall further presents a circumferential central portion interconnecting the edge portions.

9. A bobbin as set forth in claim 8 wherein the thickness of said wall progressively increases from said split to said central portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,087,221 4/1963 Armstrong 24-279 2,413,091 12/1946 Wolfenden 242-118.11

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,414,528 9/1965 France.

166,744 4/ 1934 Switzerland.

GEORGE F. MAUTZ, Primary Examiner 

